Dummies Guide to Pi2AES! Throw away your PC or laptop.

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by purr1n, Jan 29, 2020.

  1. Turbo2288

    Turbo2288 New

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    May be I am being superfluous, maybe most users of Pi2AES and Volumio already know this, but I will share anyway.
    I have been using my PC/Laptop+Foobar and play to my Topping dac for two years. I heard about the Pi2AES, and tried it with a Rpi and volumio. I love the sound, however I still prefer using my Windows PC + Foobar, because I have albums as well as many folders with thousands of individual songs, also I need to access Win Explorer's different columns with tags like rating, bitrates, date created, date mod., comments.....etc.
    I was wishing I could use the Pi2AES+RPi as a network renderer, using Foobar as the output. After reading a lot of articles about Ropieee, DLNA, HQPlayer, Dietpi....., actually it was very easy, 5 minutes, first try :)

    Steam from Windows PC to Volumio+Pi2AES:
    1: Just found out Volumio has UPnP function built-in, make sure it's turn on, in Setting>Source.
    2: Download "UPnP MediaRenderer Output" for Foobar & install it.
    https://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_out_upnp
    3: Under Foobar configure>configure you will see "Upnp MediaRenderer Output" installed.
    4: Choose the output device : UPnP: P2AESVolumio-UPnP, Play some music !!

    I have yet to find out how to stream Tidal in my PC/Laptop to my Pi2AES+RPi, may be someone could guide me??
    Thank you.
     
  2. loadexfa

    loadexfa MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    For Tidal you'll probably want to use UPnP too. I don't remember if the Tidal player supports it or if you need to use something 3rd party. Audirvana was my favorite Win/Mac app for this purposes (and supports Tidal/Qobuz) before getting fed up with UPnP and switching to Roon.
     
  3. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    Do you have the paid Volumio plan? If you do, you can use Tidal Connect. Turn on Tidal Connect in the Volumio source settings. In the Tidal app on your PC, your RPi-Volumio should appear as an available output target. You can also use Tidal Connect with the Tidal app on a phone. Volumio will pull the stream directly from Tidal, and the Tidal app on your PC or phone works like a remote control.
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2022
  4. androxylo

    androxylo Acquaintance

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    I've installed Raspberry Pi 4B just to try with USB->Modius setup before I invest money into Pi2AES, to see if I like the setup going forward. I am using only Raspotify to stream Spotify because I own only 500 CDs and there is literally nothing to listen on high quality, realistically speaking I have no other option but Spotify.

    The problem is horrible jitter on many symphonic high data recordings, there is no problem with non classical music as it usually has only 4-5 instruments playing and hence not much data to stream. I wonder if the jitter will be gone when I replace USB with SPDIF hat or it's a software problem? Anyone else has any problems with Raspotify?
     
  5. fastfwd

    fastfwd Friend

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    The usual meaning of "jitter" in a digital-audio context is D-to-A conversion timing jitter: Samples are supposed to play exactly 1/44100 of a second apart (or 1/96000 or whatever), but the world is an imperfect place, so the samples sometimes come out a tiny bit early, sometimes a tiny bit late.

    Even 30+ years ago in the early days of CDs, when jitter was at its worst and people were blaming it for every perceived fault in CD playback, its actual effect was mostly inaudible. And the effect certainly didn't vary from "horrible" to "no problem" depending on how many instruments were present in a recording. (And BTW, the amount of streamed data doesn't vary by number of instruments either, except very very indirectly.)

    So I think that you must mean something different when you say that you're hearing "jitter". Can you describe what it sounds like?
     
  6. dericchan1

    dericchan1 Facebook Friend

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    yes that’s essentially the main purpose of the pi2aes - to provide other digital interface connection other than usb providing lower noise/jitter feeding to a dac

    Deric
     
  7. zonto

    zonto Friend

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    You could also be hearing audio watermarking embedded in the files by the label.
     
  8. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    As others have said, the term "jitter" has a specific technical meaning and you are probably hearing something else. I haven't used Raspotify myself but I see in the documentation (https://github.com/dtcooper/raspotify/wiki/Configuration) that its default bitrate is 160kbps. Try setting it to 320. Listen to Spotify straight from your computer or phone with audio quality set to "High", which is 160 (not "Very high" which is 320). If you hear the same issues, that would confirm it is caused by the bitrate.

    Thankfully UMG (Universal Music Group) removed their audible watermarks from streaming services by around 2020 (https://www.mattmontag.com/music/an-update-on-umg-watermarks), and I can confirm from my own experience. I don't know of other publishers besides UMG that have done audible watermarking.
     
  9. Turbo2288

    Turbo2288 New

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    Thanks loadexfa & Metro for inputs.
    Today I managed to find a way to stream Tidal [or Spotify,Youtube or anything playing in Windows] from my PC to the my "Pi2AES+Volumio" without using Tidal Connect, in preset bitperfect. I could post the apps needed and setting but I am not sure if anybody is interested?
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2022
  10. Gregwx

    Gregwx New

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    For the guy who ask how to connect NVIDIA Shield with PI2AES, you need a HDMI Audio Extractor, to get a TOSlink connection that can go to the PI2AES to your DAC. Those extractors are electrical noisy, not shure if is worth it.
     
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  11. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Just to be clear, the PI2AES has no audio inputs. It is an output device only.
     
  12. LetMeBeFrank

    LetMeBeFrank Won't tell anyone my name is actually Francis

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    There are several different digital audio input devices for the raspberry pi, however they are all HATs that use the same GPIO pins as the Pi2AES, so none of them will work together. The Pi does not natively support digital audio input via USB (the only other "input" on the pi), so a protocol is needed. The one mentioned earlier in this thread is very user-unfriendly.
     
  13. androxylo

    androxylo Acquaintance

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    Thanks for explanation! By jitter I mean very audible sound defect like if information is lost. Very audible, sounds like if very, very damaged LP is played on LP player from the 50s.

    Bitrate is 320. As I said the weird thing is that only very multi-instrumental symphonic music is affected, on very wide variety of recordings, like 20+ different albums. If it's just piano, or just a violin, or jazz music it sounds flawless. The defect is clearly linked to having at least 15 instruments, the more the worse.
     
  14. dericchan1

    dericchan1 Facebook Friend

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    I think what you heard was ground loop and had nothing to do with what streaming app you used.
     
  15. Woland

    Woland Friend

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    HifiBerry has an IO HAT that does both optical/coax in and out. But if you check out the product page, they seem to discourage potential purchasers with a warning on the complications of using it.
     
  16. LetMeBeFrank

    LetMeBeFrank Won't tell anyone my name is actually Francis

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    Yeah I've seen this. I considered ordering one when I bought a steel case for my Digi+ Pro and my new Pi4. Like I said, it's a HAT that wouldn't work at the same time as Pi2AES.
     
  17. Mark Curry

    Mark Curry New

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    I would be interested.
     
  18. Turbo2288

    Turbo2288 New

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    Here you go, it's interesting to try, even if you end up not using it. I myself rather use Foobar+Windows, and the Pi2AES as a straight DDC renderer.

    Stream Music/Tidal/Spotify from Windows10 to Pi2AES bitperfect.

    Part 1

    1) Turn on you Pi2AES, Volumio has UPnP function built-in, make sure it's turn on, in Setting>Source.
    [If you don’t want to use Volumio you could use RopieeeXL as a Upnp renderer, when you download Ropieee it comes with instruction, that’s what I use now, easier to setup than Volumio.] https://ropieee.org/xl/

    2) Download a Foobar component "UPnP MediaRenderer Output" & install it. https://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_out_upnp

    3) Under Foobar configure>output you will see "Upnp MediaRenderer Output" installed.
    [​IMG]

    4) Choose the output device : UPnP: P2AESVolumio-UpnP. Now you could stream music from Foobar to Pi2AES
    thru the network!!

    Part 2

    1) To stream everything from Windows including Tidal & Spotify bitperfect to Pi2AES, you need to download a program: “HiFi Cable & Asio Bridge” [ not “VB-Cable Virtual Audio” on the same page, not bitperfect! ] It’s a donationware, if you find it useful, donate a few dollars J https://vb-audio.com/Cable/


    2) After installation, go to Control Panel>Sound>Playback and you will see Hi-Fi Cable Input, right click properties>advance and set bit depth and sample rate to 24/44.1 [ you could choose 24/48, but input & output must match!]

    3) Now go to the Recording tab and you will see Hi-Fi Cable output, set bit depth and sample rate to the same 24/44.1 or whatever you set in the input.
    [​IMG]

    4) Go to bottom right of your Windows and click the speaker icon, choose “Hi-Fi Cable Input

    5) Download another Foobar component foo_record and install it. https://foobar.hyv.fi/?view=foo_record

    6) Under Foobar configure>tools and you should see “recorder” , click and set device to “HiFi Cable output”, and set the sample rate.
    [make sure the output device is still: UPnP: P2AESVolumio-UpnP]
    [​IMG]

    7) Go to Foobar > File > Add Location and type: record://[duration], and you should see something like: Recording 48000hz 24bps 2chHi-Fi Cable output on the main window.
    [​IMG]

    8) Now go to Tidal and set output to Hi-Fi Cable input, play some music.

    9) Click and play the “Recording” file in Foobar, music will stream from Tidal > Hi-Fi Cable > Foobar > to your Pi2AES !!

    10) Any music in Windows will stream thru, Spotify, Youtube, etc
     
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    Last edited: Jan 19, 2022
  19. Thegratefuldad1

    Thegratefuldad1 New

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    Hi, PI2AES dummy here. I'm working my way through this dummies guide. I'm up to about page 20. I thought I'd send this out in case there is an 'easy' fix that someone else has gone through.
    PI2AES, Topping D90, Volumio
    Everything works fine when using a USB connection and Volumio.
    Unfortunately, I've not been able to get the Topping D90 and PI2AES working with COAX, Optical or HDMI.
    I keep get the dreaded error
    Failed to open "alsa" (alsa), Failed to open ALSA device "Volumio" No such device
    From what I read, it seems to be not picking the correct DAC when I go through set up with I2S enabled in startup section.
    If I set it to NO I2S, the Topping D90 is found and if chosen USB works.
    If I enable I2S, and I choose 1 of many DACs that show up in drop down, I keep getting ALSA error,
    I've tried Generic I2S Dac, Allo Digi One +,Allo Katana, HiFiBerry Dac, DAC Plus, PI2 Design 502DAC, etc
    always getting the ALSA error.
    Never get Pi2AES and Topping D90 to sink up, (side note, same symptoms when I use my RME ADI-2 Dac).
    I know I'm a dummy, I'm working through the pages.
    Help, Please advise, I'm not offended to be called dummy (I'm old, been called worse).
    I'm using free version of Volumio. Do I need paid version of Volumio. Ultimate step would get this working with Roon.
    UPNP Renderer enabled, Sharepoint sync enabled, DLNA Browser enabled. Volumio version 3.3.1
    System Version 3.179 Released Mon 20 Dec
    All plugIns enabled . I've checked updates (have latest).
    Ideas. advise looking to get past ALSA and hopefully able to use a different connection other than USB.
    I have stepped through enabling various interfaces on Topping D90 (same with RME).
    OK, that's it.
     
  20. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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